Iraqi-American heeds a call

Morton Grove man will be translator during rebuilding

An electrical engineer from Morton Grove began a yearlong assignment this week as a translator in Iraq, helping with the reorganization of his native country.

Sargon Yalda, 46, an American citizen, watched his teenage sons' soccer game Tuesday night, then flew to Texas for a 10-day training program. He expects to be assigned as an Iraqi-English linguist, to help with questioning or translating when troops talk to prisoners.

"I felt it was my duty when I heard a community call on the Assyrian radio station stating the tremendous need for Arabic-English translators to help with the rebuilding efforts in Iraq," Yalda said.

Yalda will work for Titan Corp. of Fairfax, Va., a company specializing in homeland security. He said the company is providing "reasonable compensation" compared with his wages here.

Yalda left Iraq to attend school in England at 17 and has lived most of his adult life in the U.S.

"My allegiance is to the United States, and what I am doing is all about making this a better country for my kids," he said. "But I cannot deny my heritage, either. I want peace and prosperity for all, and this is just my little part of contributing."

He said he expects the worst and believes he probably will live "a very Spartan existence."

Yalda, an information technologist for Sargent & Lundy, which designs power plants, said his bosses support his decision and promised to preserve his job.

His son Mark, 16, who has told his teachers how proud he is of his father, is uneasy.

"I worry about sneak attacks and suicide bombers," he said.

But Yalda said his wife, Janine, and his children "realize I'm just part of the whole picture of fighting terrorism.

"I look at what Saddam was doing as part of the whole terrorist network," he said. "To help bring him down will more than offset leaving my family and my job."

Friends and relatives "have come forth and said, `Sargon, God bless you, go for it, and don't worry about your family. We will be there for them,'" he said.